Once the London Plane Trees have been relocated the demolition of the City of Fremantle civic hall can start. This will take much longer than the demolition of the Queensgate building as there is asbestos removal involved, so it is estimated to take up to six months for the relatively small building.

The former Queensgate site is now nearly ready for three weeks of ground work and than the prefabricated elements will arrive and pop up fast, so that will be really exciting to watch.

The modernisation of Kings Square with a port themed children’s playground is very significant for Fremantle. It will change the way locals and visitors view and use our city square and will hopefully attract people here seven days a week, day and night.

Late yesterday afternoon the test results by ENVIROLAB came back that the soil at the Fremantle Workers Club in Henry Street contains asbestos.

Earlier in the day the City of Fremantle notified residents that no asbestos had been found in samples from the Lance Holt School which is opposite the former club.

It is advisable for parents who drop off their children on foot or bike today to enter Henry Street from Phillimore Street so that they don’t have to walk past the development site. Better to be sure than to be sorry!

It is remarkable that the developers, who have shown documentation that they did asbestos checks in January, have not taken more care and that the asbestos was only discovered now because the community went public on social media with it. Everyone knows that older buildings in Fremantle are very likely to contain asbestos, so why not take extreme care, especially opposite a primary school, and double check.

Questions we would like to see answered: Why were soil samples not taken before? How much of the soil has been disturbed and for how long? Will the City of Fremantle take legal action against the developers?

Tests show no asbestos at school

Testing has shown there is no asbestos in samples of dust and materials taken from Fremantle’s Lance Holt Primary School.

City of Fremantle Chief Executive Officer Philip St John said independent analysis of nine samples taken from locations around the school earlier today found no trace of asbestos.

The City has advised the school of the findings and will continue to liaise with Lance Holt staff and parents and closely monitor the demolition works on the site of the former Workers Club at 7 Henry Street.

The City took action to instruct the demolition contractor to cease works until further notice while testing could be undertaken in response to concerns about dust emissions from the site.

Mr St John said the City was yet to receive results of the soil tests taken from the demolition site which was closed and contained this morning.

“Our immediate priority was to clarify the situation regarding Lance Holt Primary School. Now that the tests conducted at the school have come back negative, we will focus our attention back on the demolition site.

“As soon as we receive the results back from the laboratory where they were sent for testing, we will determine any further action.”

UPDATE at 18.17 hours: Testing has revealed asbestos at the former Workers Club site but not at the Lance Holt School opposite the demolition site!

The City of Fremantle has taken action to stop demolition works on the site of the former Workers Club at 7 Henry Street, Fremantle, pending tests to see whether dust emanating from the site contains asbestos.

Responding to community concerns about the demolition practices at the site and its proximity to the Lance Holt Primary School, the City today instructed the demolition contractor to cease works until further notice.

“Field services officers were on site this morning taking samples of material both at the site and at the school. We will have those samples urgently tested today and will notify both the demolition contractor and the school of the outcome,” City of Fremantle Chief Executive Officer Philip St John said.

“We have been in touch with the school principal over the weekend and again today to advise of the action taken and we will continue to remain in contact throughout this process. It is hoped we will have the results of the testing back as soon as possible.”

Mr St John said the demolition site, in Fremantle’s historic West End, was contained and the City would determine any further action once it receives the results of the tests.

Residents near the Roe 8 highway clearing at the Beeliar Wetlands have raised serious concerns about the lack of dust repression measures by the building contractors. They say the area is a known location for asbestos dumping and that the clearing of the bushland is dangerous for the health of local residents, police officers and workers.

It seems unbelievable that the EPA, Worksafe and unions do not insist on watering trucks being used to spray down the dust at the Roe 8 works, as that is even required in the most remote locations of WA at mining sites.

I have been to hundreds of mines around Australia in the last 30 years and have never not seen dust repression measures at any of them, so why does the WA state government ignore this basic rule of protecting the health of everyone near the construction site?

Can someone at the City of Fremantle please alert the owner of the derelict Marilyn New woolstores that vandals have forced the doors open and there is now free access to the building that is a public hazard because of asbestos etc. Grazie mille!